the DIB Project pt 3: Maybe
by theBalance
Summary: When news of Phoenix's death reaches the Chimera Institute, Vila takes the oppertunity to persue Dib once more.
1. Prologue: SECRETS

_AN: I've never done this before, so I'm not sure how this is going to turn out. I'm gonna try and do this fic to a song: 'Maybe' by NZ band Opshop. I heard it on the radio and it seemed to fit quite well, so, here goes…_

_Oh yeah, 'Maybe' is written and performed by Jason Kerrison, Matt Treacy, Clinton Harris and Bobby Kennedy._

**The D.I.B. Project Part 3: Maybe**

**Prologue – Secret**

_So what's this big secret you can't tell me?_

_Haven't we all had enough?_

_Enough for one day?_

His mother's funeral had been anything but closure. It was over a week ago and Dib was still beset by insomnia. He wished that he had listened to her when she instructed him to remain upstairs while his father euthanised her. Instead, he had left Gaz immersed in the GameSlave 2, in her room, and opted to go down to his parents. Phoenix had, after all, chosen to die for the sake of her children.

The images plagued him ceaselessly: The shock on Phoenix's face as Zim had thrust the steel appendage through her back… The argument she had had with Membrane on the drive home… The regret in her eyes as she gave him her final piece of wisdom…

His thoughts were interrupted by a heavy _thud_ and Dib sits up in his bed to look over to see what happened. A book had fallen from the shelf. Not just any book though – since his mother died, it had become one of his prized possessions. Dame phoenix had written it herself. Bending down to pick it up, he is startled when the next one falls. As he looks over to it, confused, a breeze flows loudly into the room… or… was it… a voice?

---

_You need to be subtle,_ Dr. Gary Fisher told his daughter. _You don't want to scare him, do you?_

_No, but…_ Phoenix shifted nervously. _I just want… to comfort him._ She walks around to her son's bed and watches as he stares blankly at the ceiling, sleepless. Kneeling down next to him, she kisses his cheek and whispers, _Everything's gonna be okay, I promise…_

_He can't hear you._

_I know._

_He doesn't even know you're there._

_I know,_ she repeats, rising and gliding to the bookcase, scanning all the spines. _Perfect_, she utters, placing her index finger on the top of one book.

_Mothman Theories?_ Her father enquired.

_In the Network, Dib's codename is Agent Mothman,_ she explained. _Look who wrote it…_

_You._

_Precisely,_ Phoenix replies, tugging on the book and letting it fall to the floor. She observes as her son rises from his bed and walks over to inspect the fallen book.

_I, was Elite Chimera,_ Phoenix adds, pulling down the next one, ensuring that it lays open on a page concerning the beast. _Did it work? Does he know I'm here?_

_Only one way to find out…_

Phoenix nods and whispers: _Can you hear me, Bumblebee?_


	2. One: ARGUE

_AN: the idea for this chapter came to me while I was reading otherrealmwriter's 'Mom?' Cheers._

**Chapter one – Argue**

_I don't wanna argue with you…_

_You got me shivering in my spine._

_Vodka? I'd've picked him for a whisky man myself._

_Shut up, Dad. This isn't the time,_ she snapped. _My husband was never a drinker. No. He seems to be reminiscing…_

---

"Can you not _see_ how this is tearing me up?!" Phoenix shrieked. Her throat was raw from the mixture of crying and yelling.

"It's doesn't have to tear you up, you can stay!" Membrane yelled back.

"No…" she whispered, shrinking back as though afraid. "I can't…" she uttered, beginning to cry. "You saw what I did to Dib – I could've killed him…"

"But you didn't," Membrane lowered his voice, trying to soothe his distraught wife.

"But I _will_," she retorted quietly. "Eventually I will… we're both scientists, it isn't that hard to foresee. It could take me forever to learn how to control this… During that time I could very well destroy you – and the children. Don't make me chose, because I can't. I love you, Membrane, _and_ Gaz, _and _Dib. You'll have to forget me, for now."

"What do you expect me to tell the children?"

"Tell them I died when the teleporter short-circuited or something… God knows I should've," she added, lowering her voice once more.

"Don't say that…" Membrane said, stepping forward and raising a hand to her cheek.

"Don't touch me," she recoils. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't…" he whispered, taking another step towards her. He leaned in and kissed her softly. Both pairs of lips felt the force surge through them, but both endured it, if only for the other…

---

Membrane slammed his fist on the table and lifted the bottle of Kristov to his lips.

_This is far too cruel,_ Phoenix told her father. _If only I could've stayed a little longer… Two days was not long enough to bring this family back together – no one could've achieved that. It was all just a tease… Some sadistic deity giving us a taste of what fate will not allow._

She left the kitchen, heading back to the stairs.

_Where to now? _Doctor Fisher asked his daughter.

Phoenix didn't reply.


	3. Two: UNPREPARED

**Chapter two – Unprepared**

_If everything turned out as we had said,_

_We wouldn't have to sit through any of this._

"So… what's happening with the Institute?" Agent Siren asked impatiently. "Who gets to run it now that Chimera herself is gone?"

"Well, according to her will…" Elite Bodmin Beast started, flipping through the papers in front of her. "Ah! Here it is: the Chimera Institute of Supernatural Sciences comes under the possession and administration of… Agent Mothman."

"Mothman?!" Agents Disembodied Head and Darkbooty reply.

"But… Mothman's just a kid," Darkbooty adds.

"Nevertheless, he is her son and heir. Chimera states that in the event of her early death, Mothman _will_ run the place, _under_ the supervision if the Elites, until he is of age and skill to handle the responsibility that has been placed upon him. Bear in mind his parentage, Darkbooty. Professor Membrane and Agent Chimera would _not_ bring their son up so lightly. Agent Mothman is no_ mere child_. The capability of is mind far surpasses _any_ of ours, and we are all _decades_ his senior."

"Argh! This is so stupid!" Agent Siren disagreed vocally. A _ten_-year-old in charge of us!"

"Eleven," Agent Disembodied Head corrected her. "Agent Mothman is eleven years old."

"Chimera would not make such a decision on a mere whim," Elite Bodmin Beast continued. "There must be a good reason behind this decision. She would not pass this institute to him simply because he bears half her DNA. No. She saw potential in this child where we only saw a brat looking for attention."

"Surely that's still biased on her part!" Agent Siren argued. "She could just as easily passed the baton on to me. _I_ know this place inside-out. Christ, I helped her _build_ it. Agent Mothman has only been here _once_!"

"Once? Mothman's never been here at all… However, you must all remember that Agent Chimera was the wisest, most strategic of all the Swollen Eyeballs. And Professor Membrane is a World Renowned scientist – the best in any field. Perhaps their son has inherited enough to be a worthy successor. Bodmin Beast out."


	4. Three: A NEW SENSE OF SELF

**Chapter three – A New Sense of Self**

_Maybe I would be a better fit,_

_In my own skin…_

_Dib…_ Phoenix whispered, standing in his doorway. The boy had resorted back to lying sleepless on top of his blankets, clutching the warm greenstone pendant that lay upon his chest. He turned his head and gazed right through her. _Please hear me, Dib. See me…_he blinked and sat up suddenly, opening his mouth to yell in terror. Unnaturally, phoenix quickly reached him and placed a gentle hand over his mouth. "I'm not here to scare you," she whispered, her face so close to his, she could feel his warmth.

"Mum?" he asked as the spirit slowly moved her hand to his cheek. "Tell me I'm not dreaming…" the boy was on the verge of tears.

"I promised I'd stay, remember?"

"Are you a… a–?" he couldn't say the word, it was as though his lungs wouldn't let him.

"A ghost? You could call it that. Oh, Dib," Phoenix tutted, as she examined the bags under his eyes in a motherly fashion. "How long has it been since you slept?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "A week? Maybe two. What was that song you used to sing to me when I was little?"

"'No Ordinary Thing'?"

"No, the other one. I can't remember the name of it – it's in Maori."

"Oh, you mean 'Pokarekare Ana'"

"Yeah, what was it about?"

"It's a lament for lost love."

"Can you sing it again?"

"How old are you?" she smiled.

"Eleven-and-a-half. Please?" he pleaded.

"Alright, lie down."

The boy obeyed, and closed his eyes as his mother pulled the duvet up to his chin. As soon as Phoenix began to sing, her angelic voice lulled him as easily as it had done nine years ago.

---

The next morning, Dib awoke feeling strangely refreshed. It was as though his spirit itself had been rejuvenated. When he entered the kitchen, he was struck by a sense of déjà vu: Sitting at the table, nursing a cup of tea, was his grandmother, Dr. Gaia Fisher. She had been staying at the Membrane household since her daughter's funeral, keeping the Professor in check; cooking for him and the children; cleaning; and generally making life easier for them.

"Morning, Dib!" she said cheerily. "I see you finally got some sleep."

"Yeah, I had a strange dream, though."

"All dreams are strange, Dib."

"But do they often feel so real?"

"Well, what happened in it? A dream like that often means you should pay attention to it."

"Nothing special… I spoke to mum…" his voice wavered.

"What did she say?"

"She sung Pokarekare Ana."

"That sounds appropriate. Was she alive or dead?"

"She was a ghost."

"Are you sure it was a dream, then?"

"How much do you know about the paranormal?"

"Oh, a little," she sighed modestly, raising her hand and drawing a glass from the cupboard a few meters behind her.

Dib was astonished, as his eyes followed the glass through the air and came to a stop in his grandmother's withered hand. "How long have you been able to do that?" he asked finally.

"Oh, quite some time now. That's a story for another time."

"Is it genetic?"

"I don't know. None of my children showed any signs of it."

"Mum could do something similar… I didn't see much of it, though."

"My Phoenix? What could she do?"

"I… can't really explain it. It was like she had power over life itself or something…"

"Interesting… perhaps it is, then. Perhaps your father will know more."

"Where's Gaz?"

"Still asleep – it's only seven. Are you going to skool today?"

"I don't know – I still don't think I can face Zim."

"You'll have to eventually, you can't wag skool all your life."

The conversation was interrupted by Dib's communicator, he tried to ignore it.

"It could be important…" Gaia warned.

"Mothman," he answered.

_Agent Mothman, this is Elite Bodmin Beast. You're not busy today, are you?_

Dib looked up to is grandmother and she bowed her silver head in encouragement.

"No, I'm free."

_Good - I'd like you to come down to the Institute. Agent Chimera has left some things here for you. Bodmin Beast out._

He looked back to Gaia, as though asking if she had anything to do with it.

"Well, do you want breakfast or not?" she answered.


End file.
